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County of Westrock
The County Westrock comprises a large part of the most North-Western area of the Arathi Highlands, bordering the Kingdom of Lordaeron and the heavily disputed mountainous 'triangle' claimed by the Kingdom of Stromgarde, Kingdom of Lordaeron, and Kingdom of Alterac. Formerly a vassal of the Margrave of Troll-March, the County has held dignity under the King himself since 625KY. Reliant largely on trade and the business of the Arathorian Legion before the great crisis afflicting the Highlands, County Westrock is now a devasted and bleak place. The few remaining survivors battle daily against Horde incursions and the inhospitable soils, bitter winter cold, and increasing despair. The title of Count of Westrock is currently held by Sean de Bridenridge. Geography Significant Sites The largest settlement in the region is now the fortress-town of Caer Occidentalis, an umaginatively named old Arathorian Legion fort that has, over the centuries, developed first into the provincial capital and then into its most populous settlement. However, it has attained this status only recently due to the economic collapse of much of the Highlands and the constant assaults by the myriad enemies of the Kingdom, as the bulk of the population of the County has either fled to safer climes or sought refuge within the now overcrowded walls of Caer Occidentalis. Caer Occidentalis Established during the later years of the Dissolution Period - roughly concurrent with the construction of Thoradin's Wall by Stromgarde's new enemies - with the intention of securing the Western border of the Kingdom's enforceable territorial claims. Staffed over the years by a constant Legion presence, Caer Occidentalis developed into a walled city rather than a simple fortress and attached village in 89KY, and in 92KY was declared the provincial capital of County Westrock. Today its population is at its highest in history, at just under two thousand. The tight confines of the walls are overfilled with refugees and disease is rife and with every harsh winter the population threatens total collapse. Without adequate farmland under the plow, the slow crumbling of the Highlands economy, and the Forsaken blockade of the Wall, Caer Occidentalis is an increasingly untenable foothold in the Western Highlands. While conditions improved somewhat during the short rule of the Palatinate, which sent taxed supplies and manpower to reinforce the city and return neglected fields to the plow, the future of Caer Occidentalis now appears to be disastrously bleak. When the city falls, a major lynchpin of military resistance to the Forsaken will fall with it. The city is dominated by the forty foot walls of the original Caer Occidentalis, which sit at the centre of the sprawl, visible over its lower outer wall for some distance. Kaneton A desolate ruin located in the disputed triangle, Kaneton was the site of one of the most notorious encounters of the Alterac Border Disputes of the late 6th Century. Early in 581KY, Alteraci forces commanded by Sir Priam de Whitbury crept through the pickets posted by the Arathorian Legions and fell upon Kaneton. Over the course of a night of savage violence, the entire town of two thousand people was butchered, and as dawn rose no living thing greeted it save for wild dogs and crows come to feast on the fallen in the streets. In the aftermath, Arathorian and Lordaeri forces collaborated despite territorial rivalry to drive Whitbury into captivity, and the Kaneton Massacre is believed to have been one of the pivotal moments in convincing the Kingdom of Lordaeron to ultimately withdraw from the dispute. Kaneton has since stood unoccupied due to its position in such a volatile region, with dispute continuing over its ownership after the fall of Alterac - though without blood being spilled. It came to brief prominence once again in the Third War when Scourge necromancers occupied the ruins and raised the skeletal dead to serve as disposable shock forces for the assault on Thoradin's Wall, but has returned to relative obscurity in the years since. History Warring Kingdoms Period Alterac Border Disputes Category:Troll-March